The Best of Both Worlds (episode)
The Borg begin their long-dreaded invasion of the Federation, and the Enterprise is the only ship available to confront them. (Season Finale) Summary Teaser The Enterprise arrives at Jouret IV, "one of the Federation's outermost colonies," after receiving a distress call. Riker, Data, Worf, and La Forge beam down and find that the entire colony has not only been completely destroyed, but the "center of town" is now nothing more than a giant crater. Act One The Borg are suspected of having caused the destruction of New Providence, a Starfleet colony. Starfleet sends its best tactician, Lieutenant Commander Shelby, who has been working at Starfleet Tactical under the direction of Admiral Hanson in preparation for the coming Borg threat as established by the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|''Enterprise's]] first contact with them at System J-25. Aboard the ''Enterprise, Shelby proves to be smart and ambitious, letting Riker know in no uncertain terms that she wants his job. Friction mounts between Shelby and William Riker|Riker as she and Data beam down to the colony an hour prior to the time set by Riker. While there, Shelby confirms that the Borg destroyed the colony. Act Two Riker informs Captain Picard of the preparations being made on the Enterprise and throughout Starfleet for the Borg invasion. After Picard questions Riker's decision to turn down another command, this time the Melbourne, Riker begins to doubt his own career ambition. Meanwhile, Shelby and the Enterprise engineering team are having little success in devising new weapons systems to defeat the Borg. Tension between Riker and Shelby continues to rise as he orders the team to "call it a night," against Shelby's wishes. The next day, after receiving word that the USS Lalo had reported contact with a "cube shaped" vessel, the Enterprise moves to intercept. While en route, it encounters the Borg cube. Act Three The Borg demand that Picard personally surrender to them, trapping the ship in a tractor beam and cutting into the hull. Thanks to Shelby's quick-witted strategy and technical knowledge, the Enterprise breaks away and hides out in the sensor-blinding Paulson Nebula to buy time for repairs and strategy. Adding to the tension between commanders Shelby and Riker, Shelby suggests seperating the saucer section from the ship to give the Borg two targets. Riker rejects her decision, stating that power from the saucer section's impulse engines will be needed. Shelby, however, decides to speak directly to captain Picard on the subject, leading to a confrontation between Riker and Shelby on the turbolift, in which she openly questions Riker's ability to "make the big decisions." Act Four As the Borg stand watch at the nebula's perimeter, waiting for the Enterprise to reemerge, Picard tours the ship before the coming battle. In Ten Forward, Guinan assures the Captain that, even in the face of certain destruction, humanity will prevail. At this point the Borg are able to drive the Enterprise out of the nebula, using magnetometric guided charges. Punching the ship up to full speed, the Enterprise rockets out of the nebula with the Borg cube in hot pursuit. Shortly thereafter, the Borg catch up to and board the Enterprise. They kidnap Picard, release the Enterprise from their tractor beam, and set a direct course for Sector 001: Earth. On the Borg cube, the Collective inform Picard that he is to become a liaison between the Borg and humanity, to expedite the assimilation of Earth. With the Enterprise now in pursuit of the Borg cube, La Forge and his team devise a weapon using the main deflector, but this weapon will require "serious power" from the warp engines and will require the Enterprise to drop out of warp. Riker intends to lead an away team to retrieve the captain, but Troi objects to his leading the team as he is now in command of the Enterprise. Reluctantly, Riker gives command of the team to Shelby. Act Five Shelby's away team beams to the cube and, while looking for Picard, are able to destroy several Borg distribution nodes and force the Borg cube to drop to impulse for repairs. As several Borg drones move to intercept the away team, Crusher and Worf spot Picard, who has already been assimilated by the Borg. Unable to retrieve him, the team returns to the Enterprise. Shelby insists that they must return to the cube with retuned phasers, but Riker insists that this is the only chance they have to use the navigational deflector weapon. Confronted with the image of Locutus, Picard's Borg alter-ego, and his plans to destroy the Federation, Riker makes his decision: FIRE! TO BE CONTINUED... Background Information *This was the first two-part episode of Star Trek since TOS: "The Menagerie, Part I" and "The Menagerie, Part II" in 1966. ("Encounter at Farpoint" was later divided into two parts, but was in fact, a feature-length episode.) *This was intended to be the last contribution by Michael Piller, who wrote the episode with no idea as to how the story would be concluded. His turmoil over leaving the show was reflected in Riker's storyline, in which he struggled with the prospect of leaving for his own command. *The assimilation of Picard by the Borg was rumored to have been written because of contract negotiations between Patrick Stewart and Paramount. According to Michael Piller, however, Picard's assimilation was necessary to give the Borg a "Queen Bee" (which was later revealed to be the Borg Queen in actuality) and heighten drama. *Initially Piller explored the concept of both Picard and Data being abducted by the Borg and somehow joined into one unit. *When the away team beams to the surface of Jouret IV, dialogue clearly states that their location was the center of New Providence. However they appear to be standing at the edge of the crater created when the Borg "scooped" the colony off the planet, indicating that they were in fact standing on the outskirts. *While the Borg appeared to be interested only in acquiring technology in their first appearance ("Q Who?"), this episode is the first to establish their practice of assimilation. This would become their driving force in all other episodes, so much so that the creators would break continuity and imply that this had always been their objective, despite their premiere episode. *This episode marks the first time the Borg's famous line is stated: "Resistance is futile." Another phrase, "strength is irrelevant", also becomes a commonly used borg phrase with the subject "strength" being replaced in each use. *George Murdock (Admiral Hanson) previously appeared in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier as "God". *"The Best of Both Worlds, Parts I & II" were included in the 2006 DVD box set ''Star Trek'': Fan Collective - Borg. *The subject of this episode is later revisited as a major plot point in Star Trek: First Contact. Memorable Quotes "I am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile. Your life, as it has been, is over. From this time forward, you will service us." "Mr. Worf, fire." : - Locutus and Riker "Mr. Worf, send a subspace message to Admiral Hanson. We have engaged the Borg." : - Captain Picard "When it comes to this ship and this crew, you're damned right I play it safe." "If you can't make the big decisions, Commander, I suggest you make room for someone who can." : - Riker and Shelby Links and References Guest Stars *Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien *Elizabeth Dennehy as Commander Elizabeth Shelby *George Murdock as Admiral J.P. Hanson References Borg; cutting beam; [[USS Lalo|USS Lalo]]; Nelson, Horatio; Sector 001; Sentinel Minor IV; Starbase 157; Starbase 324; ''Victory'', HMS; Zeta Alpha II Best of Both Worlds, Part I, The de:In den Händen der Borg nl:The Best of Both Worlds, Deel I